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A LETTER 

TO THE 

SEJ^JTE^JYD HOUSE OF REPRESEJ^TATIVE^ 
OF THE U^riTED STATES, 

SHEWING THE PROFLIGACY AND CORRUPTION 

OF 

GENERAL JOHN ARMSTRONG 

IN HIS ADMINISTRATION OF THE 
WJIR DEP.I1RTMEJVT. 



BY WILLIAM SIMMOJ^S, ESQ. 



GEORGETOWN : 

PRINTED BY ROBERT ALLESON. 

1814. 









f 






A LETTER 

To the Honorable the Members of the Senate^ and of the 
House of Representatives. 

Gentlemen — t'indiug that there are many of my friends in 
both houses of Congress, who are unacquainted with the manner, 
or causes, for which, 1 was suddenly dismissed from office, as 
Accountant of the War Department, which I had the honor to 
hold, nearly from the establishment of the Department under the 
present Constitution, I therefore, feel it to be my duty, to repub- 
lish, for your information, the statement of facts, as they were 
published in the Federal Republican, at the time of my dismis- 
sal from office, and as I then promised, that I would remain at 
the Seat of Government, to give Congress such information as 
would enable them, by legislative provision, to correct the de- 
fects in the law, and the total want of system in the War Depart- 
m'int, to check the frauds and imposition in the Commissary and 
Quarter Master General's Departments, which has been practis- 
ed by some of their officers, to a considerable extent. 

It may be observed, in the following publication under date of 
16th July, that 1 remarked to the President, that "a represen- 
tation had been made to Congress, of the misapplication of pub- 
lic monies, and that a committee had called on me, for certain 
documents j a part of which, I had furnished theni with, and 
some of which, went to implicate one of the Quarter Master Ge- 
nerals, and his Agent, vvlio had produced fraudulent vouchers to 
a considerable amount, charged against the United States ; and 
that I should now, be deprived of bringing forward, and sup- 
porting the charges against them, and exposing their villainy, so 
as to save the United States from imposition, and fraud to a consi-* 
derable amount." As this is one of the cases which I considered 
also implicated John Armstrong, Secretary of War, and has 
been one of the motives for my dismissal ; and as I am now de- 
prived of reporting it officially, I think it due from me to state 
it in a summary way for the information of Congress, and if they 
should judge proper, to call for such documents as I can point out 
to them, they will be able to get at facts, and will be satisfied of 
its being a case that calls aloud fof investigation and an example 
to be made of those concerned. 

The persons alluded to above, are Col. James Thomas, Quar- 
ter Master General for the Northern Array and his agent, Mi- 
chael T. Simpson — On inspection of their accounts it will be 
seen that in December 1812, a large sura of public money was 
sent to Col. Thomas for the purpose of purcbasiofj flour, and 

3 



4 
other supplies for the army at Buffalo, and that on the exhibit of 
his account instead of liis charging the United States with the 
amount of purciiases paid by Simpson for the flour, &c. &c. he 
charges near double tLe sum paid, and a commission of 2i pef 
cent on the advanced amount, by which the public was fraudu- 
lently charged with a large sum — other charges upon false vouch- 
ers, equally v^xcoptionable were made by him, all of which, with 
the proof was reported to a committee of Congress on the IStli 
March, 1814, in obedience to a call from Jonathan Fisk, Chair^* 
man of the committee appointed to enquire in what manner con- 
tracts for supplying (he army of the United States have been 
made and executed, &c. Thomas and Simpson were in this city 
at t!ie time, and when they found that Congress had taken up the 
subject of their accounts, they both departed in company — Tho- 
mas alledged that he was going by permission of the Secretary of 
AVar to Buffalo to procure counter testimony to rebut the charges 
against him. He did not go to that country, neither did he pro- 
duce any thing to do away the charges of fraud against him and 
Simpson. Thomas rl'turned to this city in June last, and pro- 
duced the residue of his accounts for final settlement j he ac- 
knowledged by his account current, a balance in his hands due 
the United States of upwards of 840,000 ; I wrote to him that be- 
fore I should proceed to stats his account, he should pay the ba- 
lance acknowledged by himself, to the Treasurer of the United 
States (which he must'have had in his hands ever since December 
.1812) ; with this request, he would not comply — I then wrote to 
the Secretary of War, desiring that he would give directions to 
have my order inforced ; this he did not do, but requested that 
the account should be sent to the Treasury for' re-examination. 
The account was accordingly stated in the Accountant's Offiee, 
and the exceptionable and fraudulent vouchers disallowed, mak- 
ing a final balance due from him to the United States of upwards 
of 8130,000.— Thomas attended at the Treasury, the re-examin- 
ation of his accounts, and offered all the explanation in his pow- 
er, but could not remove the impressions against him, or effect a 
reduction of the balance as stated in the War Department, ex- 
cept only a few hundred dollars. The Secretary of War was 
privy to all the circumstances, and instead of using his authori- 
ty to secure the United States and making an example of the 
guilty, he gives another furlough to;-iThomas on the irth August 
1814, to report himself at this place on the 1st October. I have 
not heard that he is here or that he has paid over any part of the 
balance due from him. I will also remark that besides the ba- 
lance due from Thomas, he is now, and lias been in the receipt 
of tho pay and emolument of a Quarter-master-General for up- 
wards of a ye&r, without having rendered any service whatever 
in his official capacity. From the above as well as the following 
statement of fads, I presume that my friends will see the mo- 
tives & iufluHice that Gen. Armstrong had in the injustice which 
has been done to ma for acting in some degree independently 



5 

and opposing some of his villainous acts that he was comraittiiig 
injuriously to the United States. I will here take occasion to 
remark, that if a call is made by Congress upon the accountant 
of the War Department for an abstract of all the warrants drawn 
upon the Treasury by John Armstrong while he was acting as 
Secretary of War, then will be seen the enormous sums of public 
monies he has advanced and paid improperly, and for which the 
United States have never received value, and whieh will never 
be accounted for. — It will also be seen on investigation of the 
manner of advancing monies, and the accountability in the War 
Department and Ihe Secretary of War's iterference with the Ac- 
countant's Department, that if there is not some other organiza- 
tion than the present mode of doing business, there must shortly 
be, if not already the case, a total ruin to the country. 

Wm. SIMMONS, 
Washington City, Get. 20 1814. 



LETTER 1. 

TO THE EDITOR OF THE FEDERAL REPtlBLICAN. 

Sir — For the sake of truth and justice to an injured charaeterj 
i have to request that you will cause to be published in your pa- 
per the copy of a commission, under which I have been acting as 
accountant for the war department for near twenty years, and the 
copy of a letter from James Madison, Esq. President of the U. 
States, under date of the 6th July inst. revoking the same. I do 
here pledge myself at an after period, to make such statements 
of facts for publication in your jmper, from time to time, as will 
fully justify my conduct as a public officer; and that I « ill prove 
to the satisfaction of the public the l)ase conduct of the officer 
at the head of the war departiiaent, and will leave them to judge 
of the injury he has done to the government aud its creditors, by 
withholding the just balances due to claimants from one part of 
the continent to the other, and the unjiistitiable and enormous ad- 
vances of public monies he is in the habit of making from the 
public treasury, to contractors and others, many of whom are al- 
ready charged wilh considerable sums upon (he books of the war 
department; and some of the accounts, from the loose manner 
the contracts were entered into, are in a situation never to be 
correctly settled, tli^reby tending to injure public credit, and 
bring ruin on the country. 

I am Sir, very respectfully, 

WM. SIMMONS. 
JVashi}is;toti Citti. Juh 7, 1811-. 



6 
George Washington, president of the united states 

of america. 
To all who skalL see these Presents, Greeting: 
KnoTv Ye, That reposing sp -cial tru^t and eoulid ace, in the 
integrity, diligpnce ivud ability of WILLIAM SL\I>10NS, of 
Pennsylvania, I have nominated, and by and with the advice and 
Consent of the senate, do appoint him xlccoiintant to the Dopart- 
Kieut of War; and do aidherizc and empower him to execute and 
fulfii the duties of that office according to law, and to have and 
to hold the said tiffiee, with all the rights and emoluments there- 
Hnto legally appenaitiing unto him the said William Simmons, 
during the pleasure of the President of the United States, for the 
time being. 

In testimony whereof, I have cansed these letters to be 
made patent, and the Seal of the United States to be 
(Seal) hereunto affixed. Given under my hand at the city of 
Philadelphia, this thirteenth day of June, in the year of 
our Lord one thousand seven hundred and ninety-five, 
and of the luds^peudence of the United States of America, 
the nineteenth. 

GEO: WASHINGTON. 
By the President, 

EDM. RANDOLPH. 

(COPY.) 

Sir — It heing requisite that the office of Accountant to the 
Department of War he placed in other hands, you will consi- 
der it as ceasing to be in your's after this dale. 

(Signed) JAMES MADISON. 

Washington, July 6, ISl-l-. 
Wm. Summons, esq. 



LETTER 11. 

to THE EDITOR OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLICAN. 

Sir — In order (o a compliance with the pledge I have made, 
as appears in your paper of this date, I will first proceed to a 
narrative of the facts as they have oceurred, which I have con- 
sidered among the causes of my being dismissed from office. I 
begin with what may be considered the secret and personal mo- 
tives which kindled the animosity. 

Some time after Gen. Armstrong was appointed Secretary of 
"War, the accounts for the payments made by the Quarter Mas- 
ter's Department at New-York, were rendered for settlement 

On examination it was found that while G;n. Armstrong com- 
manded in New-York, and before he was appointed Secretary of 



7 

War, he hatl ordered a considerable quantity of Mahogany Finv 
jjiture to be paid for by the Quarter Master's department, stating 
it to be for the use of the general officer's head quarters at New 
York. This paymf^nt being of an extraordinary nature, and 
such as 1 deemed improper to be charged to the United States, I 
called upon the Secretary to know how I was to consider it ? — 
He replied, that he considered that his predecessor in oifice had 
authorised charges of that kind, and that it should be charged 
to the Contingencies of the War Deparlment. I observed to 
him, that 1 hoped not; that congress some times called for the 
expenditures out of that appropriation ; that it would apj)ear ex- 
traordinary, that the general ofBcKrs should be taking Mahoga- 
ny Furniture for their quarters, when the sijldiers could not get 
straw to lie upon; and that I should be obliged to charge it to 
his private account on the books of my office. Other general 
officers at the same post also have caused to be paid in a like 
manner, large sums for furniture, such as sideboards, mahogany 
dining and card tabli's, &c. &c. which 1 have also charged to the 
personal accounts of the officers, ordering them to be paid. Paul 
Bentalou, deputy quarter master at Baltimore, on the exhibition 
of his account, soon after Gen. Armstrong had left this city for 
the army, also made a charge of §1.000, stated to be paid to 
Lim, for which there was no voucher, and it was not ad- 
mitted to his credit for that reason, of which he was informed . 

After Gen. Armstrong had returned to this city, the charge was 
again made without any receipt or voucher, Mr. B. stating that 
he had seen the Secretary of War in Baltimore, and that he 
would explain it to me ; but uo explanation having been given, I 
deducted it the second time. The third time the charge was 
made on a receipt, as near as I can recollect, in the following 
words: 

" Received from Paul Bentalou, Esq. one thousand dollars. 

J. ARMSTRONG." 

This was not satisfactory to me, & I wrote on it something like 
the following, " that it was necessary to know what this money 
was received for, that I might know what appropriation it 
should be taken out of." Gen. Armstrong wrote upon it " Con- 
tingencies.^' I then admitted it to Btntalou's credit, and charg- 
ed it to Armstrong's personal account. 

Sometime after he had returned from tlie army, several quar- 
ter masters in the vicinity of the army rendered their accounts 
for settlement, in which sundry payments had been made, upon 
Armstrong's orders, for groceries and other expenses of his suite, 
to a large amount. I called upon him witlisome of these pajiers, 
and stated that 1 should be obliged to charge <htm to ivis person- 
al account, until it was known whether his expcnco^i and those 
of his suite, on that expedition were to be allovvftd, ant' to what 
extent j and then I would credit him for the amount allowed'—^ 



8 
He asked me who was to judge of it ? I observed — the President 
of the United States or Congress. He replied — " do what you 
please," in a very surly andongentlenian-ltike tone. He was af- 
terwards repeatedly heard to suy, iu the presence of a number 
of member,^ of Congress, and many others of iny friends, ^/loi if 
I had a miiitary appointment, 1 should not remain in service three- 
hours. 

From the foregoing statement of facts the public will be able 
Judge of thecanse of his hostility towards me, and may be led to 
conclude, that these acts of my public duty, to prevent impositi- 
on, have been the cause of his subsequent conduct, which 1 shall 
continue to lay before the public. 

I am, sir, your most obed't serv't, 

AVM. SIMMONS. 

^July 3,1811. 



LETTER III. 

TO THE EDITOR OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLICAN. 

Sir — By my statement in your paper of to-day, I presume it will 
be admitted, that from my endeavoring to prevent Gen. Arm- 
strong from the misapplication of public monies, he had bacorao 
hostile to me. I vvili now relate some of his subsequent conduct, 
by which the public may judge the injury he has done to the pre- 
sent administration, by refusing to receive my reports, for ba^ 
lances Escertaincd upon settlement of accounts, that warrants 
might issue in favor of claimants, as had been usual ever 
since the establishment of the office ; thereby hurting public cre- 
dit and preventing creditors from every part of the continent from 
having their balances remitted, as heretofore, by the Treasurer 
of the^ U. States. On the 12th April, 1814., I certified a balance 
due to Thomas Buford, Esq. late Deputy Commissary of Pur- 
chases. On the the following day I was iu the Secretary of 
War's room, and observing my report upon his table with the 
warrant, (made out by his clerk in the usual way for the balance, 
the warrant not signed by him,) I observed to the Secretary, tJiat 
the gentleman whom that warrant was for, Mas in my office, 
waiting for it, and desirous of leaving town. The Secretary re- 
plied — "that he would sign no more warrants upon my settle-- 
meiits until after the accounts had been re-examined at the Trea- 
sury." I asked him, if he had any information of any miscon- 
duct of Col. Bufcrd, or was suspicious that the balance reported 
by me was not correct. He observed, No — but if congress would 
not give him a Comptroller that he bad asked for, that he 
would not sign any more warrants upon my settlements, until the 



9 

accounts had been re-examined at the Treasury. I then oh* 
served, that I could have no objection to that — it would re- 
lieve me from great responsibilily, but would be a great bard- 
ship to the claimants, many of whom, from the size and magni- 
tude of their accounts, attended the examination at my office for 
several months ; and if the accounts were to be re-exarained at 
the Treasury they would be detained as much longer, and from 
the relative connection of the aceouuts with others in the office, 
and without reference to my books, any re-examination out of 
ray office, and by persons unacquainted with the routine of ex- 
amination, would answer but little purpose. He also observed, 
that he and Mr. Jones (the Secretary of the Navy) had both 
determined not to sign any more warrants upon settlements by 
the Accountants until after the accounts had been re-examined 
at the Treasury, according to law — that they had both been act- 
ing illegally ever since they had been in office, and that they 
would do so no more. I then returned to my office, supposing 
that they had both come to this determination. Soon after my 
report in favor of Col. Buford was sent to me, with the following 
remark noted upon it : — 

"The Accountant will report, from time to time, all such set- 
tlements as shall have been made by him, for the inspection and, 
revision of the Accounting Officers of the Treasury, agreeably to 
the act of 8th May, 1792. 

JOHN ARMSTRONG. 

War Department, ±3th, April 1814." 

As the business of my office, from its first establishment, had 
always been conducted in conformity to rules and regulations fur- 
nished by the Comptroller of the Treasury, I deemed it pn per to 
write to the present Comptroller a letter, of which the follow- 
ing is a copy : 

Department of War, 
Jlccountanfs Office, Jipril 14, 1814. 
E. Bacon, Esq. 

Comptroller of the Treasury. 
Sir-—! adjusted the account of Thomas Buford, late Deputy 
Commissary of Purchases, and reported the balances found due 
him, in the usual form, to the Secretary of War, that a warrant 
might issue for the payment of the balance. This course, how- 
ever, the Secretary of War declines, and has returned the re- 
port with the following note thereon. [This note is copied a- 
bove.] 

Understanding from this decision that all accounts adjusted in 
this office are to be reported to the Treasury for examination and 
revision, before the balances are to be paid ; or in other cases, 
when the individuals are indebted, before the accounts can be le- 
gally settled, I transmit herewith, the accounts and vouchers of 



10 

Mr. Buford, \vith my report thereon to the Secretary of War, a- 
bove referred to, and take the occasion to suggest to the Comp- 
troller of ihe Treasury the necessity of my being furnished with 
forms (o meet the eoursi; pointed out by the Secretary of War. as 
those heretofore furnished by the Comptroller, under which the 
duties of this office have been performed, were predicated upon a 
diffeient construction of the Jict of the 8th May, 1793, 

The number of accounts now pending calls for immediate at- 
tention to the subject. 

I am, sir, &e. &c. 

WM. SIMMONS. 

THE FOLLOWING IS A COPY OF THE COMPTROLLER'S REPLY. 

Tkeasuuy Department, 
Comptroller's Office, I8th Jipril, 18 A*. 
Sir — Iwur letter of thel-ilh inst. accompanying the account 
of Thomas Buford, hite Deputy Commissary of Purchases, has 
been received at tliis ofiice. An answer thereto has been defer- 
red until this time, with a view of aft'jrding an opportunity for a 
more full consideration of the difficulties, which appear to pre- 
sent themselves from the adoption of sucii a course of proceeding 
as seemed to be rendi^red necessary by an attempted compliance 
with the request contained in your letter ; a course which ap- 
peared to be entirely novel in itself, and inconsistent with the whole 
system of accouniability which has heretofore been prescribed by 
this department for their own government, as well as' for that of 
the Accounting Officers of tlie War Department. 

W^ith a view to a more distinct elucidation of my ideas on the 
subject, 1 proceed to remariv — That by the 1st section of the act 
of Congress, " making alterations in the Treasury and War De- 
partments," passed on the Sth day of May, 1792, it is provided, 
(hat the Accountant to the Department of War, shall report from 
time to time, all such settlements as shall have been made by him 
for the inspection and revision of the Accounting Officers of the 
Treasury — J5y the yth section of the same act it is provided, that 
the forms of keeping and rendering all public accounts, shall be 
prescribed by the Department of the Treasury. 

From a letter which was addressed to the Accountant to the 
Department of AVar, by the Comptroller of the Treasury on the 
13th July, 1793, prescribing the manner in which the accounts of 
the former were to be rendered, he appears to have been direct- 
ed to render them quarterly in separate schedules, to contain only 
such accounts as had been settled in his office, with the vouchers, 
to be inspecteil, revised, and deposited in the Treasury. 

From a letter which was also addressed to the Accountant from 
this office on tlie 13th August. 1792, containing the detailed in- 
structions by which the accounts of his office were to be governed, 
transmitting various prescribed forms in which those accounts 
were to be kept and rendered, and which had been previouslyap- 
proved by the Secretary of the Treasury, it appears that the Ac 



11 

countant was in like manner instructed to render his aceounls to 
Accounting Officers of the Trtasurey (juarterly, \\\th the vouch- 
ers, for the expenditures chari^ed, and which were to consist of 
all accounts settled and admitted by him. 

From the best consideration whiciil am able to give this sub- 
ject it results ; that the regular mode in which all accounts set- 
tled and admitted by the Accountant are to b revised by the 
Accounting Officers of the Treasury, is upon a quarterly trans- 
mission of the same to this department, in the manner pointed 
out by the instructions, which conformably to the aforesaid acts, 
have heretofore issued from this office to the Accountant, and 
conformably to the practice w hich has, as it is understood, here- 
tofore invariably prevailed in the settlement and revision of those 
accounts. It is indeed true that a practice has in some cases been in- 
dulged, in favour of parties who were dissatisfied with the adjust- 
ment & settlement of an account by the Accountant, of receiving 
a separate report of such case, accompanied with a statement 
thereof, and of the objections against its allowance by the Ac- 
countant, and if upou consideration of the Accounting Officers 
of the Treasury, the objections appeared to them such as ought 
not to avail, to remit the account again to the Accountant, with 
instructions to re-adjust and settle the same up(m the principles 
prescribed by this office in relation thereto. Cases of (his sort, 
however, as it is conceived, can be considered but as forming 
exceptions to the general rule, and. by no means as militating 
with the general forms and modes of Accounting which have 
been prescribed for the general regulation of the accounts in 
your department. 

The Secretary at War has, by his note to the Accountant, 
nearly in the terms of the act of 1793, directed the latter " to re- 
port /roni ^ime ^o f me all such settlements as shall have been 
made by him for the revision of the accouuting officers of the 
Treasury ;" but it is not perceived that there is" any thing in this 
order which authorizes the Accountant to transmit such seftle-^ 
ments at a different time, or in a different manner from that which 
had been before prescribed for his government by the Treasury 
Department. If indeed the Secretary of War does not feel him- 
self justified in issuing his warrant for the amount of the balance 
found due by the Accountant, upon the adjustment of any parti- 
cular account, as has heretofore been the practice, until that ac- 
count is ultimately inspected and revised by the accounting offi- 
cers of the Treasury, that must be a matter resting exclusively 
for the consideration and determination of the Secretary alone, 
but which cannot as it is conceived at all affect the gfM>eral duty 
of the Accountant as to the time and manner of rendering and 
keeping his accounts, conformably to the general instructions 
which, in execution and pursuance of the law, hnve heretofore 
been given by this department, much less can it interfere with 
the regular course of accounting which the department has pre- 
scribed for its own officers, and w hich has for so long a period 



12 

been successfully practised. With these remarks I take the 
liberty to return the account of Thomas Buford with the papers 
accompanying it, with a request that it may at a proper time be 
reported to the accounting officers of the Treasury, in the mode 
prescribed by the previous instructions from this office, which 
have been before alluded to. 

1 am, very respectfully, 

Your obedient servant, 

(Signed) E. BACON. 

From the foregoing it will be seen that after I had settled ac- 
counts I was not at liberty to report them for payment; therefore 
the balances could not be paid; neither could I remit the amount 
due to claimants distant from the seat of government. Many be- 
came very clamorous and dissatisfied with the government, and 
in my opinion, the public credit was iitjured to an alarming de- 
gree. The President being then absent in Virginia, I deemed it 
my duty to call on the secretaries of state, treasury and navy, 
and represented to thera the disadvantage that attended the de- 
cision of the Secretary of war. On my interview with the Se- 
cretary of the Navy, I inquired of him whether he had come to a 
determination not to issue any warrants upon the certificate of the 
statement of the accounts by the Accountant of that Depart- 
ment ; and whether he considered the mode heretofore practised 
in that respect as illegal. He answered, that he had not formed 
any such determination, and that the practice which had hither- 
to prevailed was still pursued. This was so diflFereut from what 
the Secretary of War had stated to have been said by Mr. Jones, 
that I drew my own conclusion, and had determined to write to 
the President ; but on reflf clion, and being informed that he would 
return soon, and supposing the evil would have cured itself, I 
therefore thought it would be best to wait his return, when I 
should be able to explain the thing to him in person. 
Your most obedient serv't, 

July 9, 1814. WM. SIMMONS. 



LETTER IV. 

TO THE EDITOR OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLICAN. 

SiK — In continuation of what 1 have said in your paper of 
to-diiy, I will proceed to state, that before and after my inter- 
view with the Secretaries, I continued to examine the accounts ; 
and as it regarded those on which balances were found due to the 
United States, they have been settled as heretofore, and the ac- 
counts definitively prepared for entry on the books of my office, 
and the parties informed by letter. But as it regarded accounts 
OU whieh balances were due from the U. States to individuals. 



13 

they were generally examined, tlie balances ascertained, and 
such as had been settled beiwi'eii the tiuie the Secretary oi' War 
made his objeeliou to receiving mj reports, and Uie time 1 got 
the Comptroller's letter, believing as 1 did, the ol-jectiou had 
been removed, I sent the reports iulo the S>?cr.'taiy's olnee, wliere 
the warrants were made out by one of his Clerks in the usual 
way, and thence were taken into him lor his signature; but in- 
stead of signing the warrants, he tore them up with great vio- 
lence, and put them in the fire, returning the reports to my offtce, 
and desiring 1 should send no more reports to him. Soju after- 
wards, a claim was presented in favor of a Mr, John Douglas, 
from Pittsburg, Penn. and as I was not at liberty to repon .;a 
his account, I made the endorsement, of which tiie following is a 
copy : — 

Department of War, 
Jlccountanfs Office, Jpril 25. 181-*. 
The Secretary at War having deterniio. d not to receive any 
reports from this offi'te for the balances payable, ascertained on 
settlements, until after the accounts have been settled, and re- 
ported to the accounting officers of the Treasury for their in- 
spection and revision ; and the accounting offi-ers of the Tica- 
sury having by their letter under date of the ISih April, 1814, 
refused to receive the accounts in any otlier way than hy the 
forms which have been presented in July and August, 1793^ im- 
immediately after the passage of the law, whicli forins direct 
that all settlements made by the ac'ountant sliall only be ren- 
dered quarterly to the Treasury — a oifF rence of opinion, there- 
fore, existing between the Secretary of War and the Treasury 
Department, I am unable to make any settlement, or to report 
any balance, in any other way than that heretofore practised, un- 
til the diff rence of opinion above referred to, is removed. 

(Signed) WM. SIMMONS. 

The claim, which was for upwards of S2000 dollars, was a- 
gain made by Mr. Douglas, in June 1814. 1 informed him that 
the difficulty had not been removed, but advised him (o cr !l up- 
on the Secretary of War, with «'hom the ohj'ciion rested. Af- 
ter his interview with G.^neral Armstrong, whom he could -ot 
induce to recede, he called upon me at my own house, on his be- 
ing ready to return to Pittsburg, and observed that h" could jiot 
go home without letting me know what General Ari?>strong said 
of me, and that he would give me a certificate of tlsefact. Tiiere 
were several gentlemen at my house at the time, who witnessed 
the occurrence. The following is a copy : 

"I certify that in a eonvers.ition with the Secretary of War, 
this day, resp 'Cting a claim, which I have against the govern- 
ment, in spe.iking of the Acc<mntant of the War Department, 
he remarked, among language which I considered unbecomiug, 
that the Accountant was a damned rascal. 

(Sigued) JOHN DOUGLAS. 

Washington, June 8th, isi-t." 



14 
When the above was communicated to me, I was about to pro- 
ceed immediately to, give the assassin, who would not dare to 
have made the assertion in my hearing, the chastisement that 
80 daring and vill vinous an outrage to an innocent and injured 
character deserved, but was prevented through the interposition 
of my friends present. 

Your most obedient serv't, 



July 11, 1814. 



WM. SIMMONS. 



LETTER V. 

TO THE EDITOR OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLICAN. 

Sir — Agreeably to the intention I have already signified, 1 
now send you some further details relative to my dismissal from 
the pui)lic service. 

A few days after the President had returned to the seat of go- 
vernment from Virginia, I waited upon him with the law estab- 
lishing the office of the Accountant, for the Department of War, 
together with a copy of the correspondence which appears in 
your paper of the 11th of July instant. 

The President apparently perused the whole of those papers 
with great attention, and observed that he could not see what mo- 
tive Gen. Armiiitrong had for deviating from a practice so long 
established. I told him it had, in my opinion, done great injury 
to the U. States, and that it was destroying public credit; that 
claimants at a distance, who had rendered accounts, had been in 
the habic of having their balances remitted to them, and could 
not understand why tlie monies due them were withheld at this 
time ; that many considered it was for the want of money, others 
spoke freely of the executive, and that it required considerable 
eorrf spondence from my office to explain tliat it only arose from 
a difference of opinion between the Secretary of War and the Ac- 
counting officer of the Treasury ; all of which the President ve- 
ry readily admitted was correct. 

I then observed 1 considered it a duty I owed to myself, and to 
my country, to make the case known to him ; that it had ever 
been my wish, in my official capacity, to do right, and that if I 
ha<l done wrong, I wished to be instructed. The President ob- 
served, that he had known me many years as a public officer ; 
tliat he had never heard that I had done wrong, nor had any 
complaints of me. 

I was then desirous of knowing what could be done to have 
the diffir'ulties removed, and asked him if he Mould speak to 
genertii Armstrong on the subject; to whicJi he observed, that 
the Secretary of War was a high and responsible officer by law. 
that it was his duty to sign warrants, and that he could not un» 



15 

dertake to dictate to him how he was to couduct his office. 1 
was, however, inucli p eased, that after ail the clamor which had 
been made by the public creditors from not receiving their claims 
ascertained on my settlements, no complaint had been made 
against me; and on taking my leave of the president, told him 
I should continue to do my duty. 

About the 1st or 2d of July, Mr. Bacon, the comptroller of the 
treasury, called upon me at my nffice, a^id asked me how the bu- 
siness was going on : 1 observed that the examination of ac- 
counts was progressing as usual, but that balances could not be 
reported for payment, as the difficilty mads by the Secretary of 
War had not yet been removed. He said it had given the pre- 
sident great uneasiness, and that he was much distressed in con- 
sequence of it. I again observed to him, that I would be ready 
to report all claims on settlements at my office whenever I was 
officially informed who to report them to; that the present mode 
of conducting the business greatly augmented the duties of my 
office; that I had countersigned warrants to the amount of four 
or five millions of dollars, since the difference of opinion had ta- 
ken place, which was about three months, all of which were for 
advances, and many of which caused accounts to be kept open 
on the books of my office, when full settlements should have 
been made. 

The Comptroller said he had not changed the opinion he had 
communicated to me, and did not know what further could be 
done. When he left my office 1 supposed he would have com- 
municated the conversation to the president, and that some di- 
rection would have been given to the Secretary of War. 

My next interview with the j)resident was on the morning of 
the 6th of July, after I received bis note of dismissal as copied 
in your paper of the 8th inst. when I informed the president 
that I had called upon him in consequence of the unexpected 
letter I had received from him that morning: that I wished to 
know if there had been any accusation or complaint against me 
since my last interview with him. He observed he was not obli- 
ged to give any reason for the act he had done, it was one of 
those unpleasant things that was brought upon him by the nature 
of his oliice. I told him I did not wish him to account to me, 
but only wished to know if there was one act of my official con- 
duct that could be found fault with, or in what respect it had 
been supposed I had done wrong. He said that from the mis- 
understanding of the two offices, business could not go on, and 
that the step he had taken was unavoidable, it being absolutely 
necessary to prevent further delay. I then observed, if the 
question was whether general Armstrong or myself was to bo 
dismissed, and it was the president's pleasure to fix on me, I must 
subniittoit. 

I then stated to Mr. Madison my opinion of gen. Armstrong; 
that he was unfriendly to him and his admiiiistration; that the 
course he had taken, in stopping monies being paid on settle- 



16 \ 

ments maJe according to law, and issuing warrants, to the \ 
aiiiuuut of iniUioiis, lo cyatractors and others, many of whom ■' 
were lio^^ charged on the books wifli very large sums, and some : 
of wliose accounts woreiu such a state that they could never be I 
correctly setlhd, would not only injure the public credit, but ex- ■ 
haust the treasury. 1 further remarked to the president, that 
a ri^presentalion had been made to c.ngress of the misapplica- 
tion of public monies, and that a coniniiitoe had called upon me ; 
for certain documents, a part of v»'!iich 1 had furnished Ihem I 
wilh, rtud sume of which Meut to implicate one of the quarter i 
master generals and his agent, who h-wd produced fraudulent ' 
vouchers to a considerable amount charged ugainst the United \ 
States; and (hat I should now be d-prived of bringing forward 
and siijjj.'orting the charges against them, and of exposing their 
villaiiiv so as to save the Utiiled Slates from imposition and ' 
fraud to a considerable amount, llvre the conversation ended ; ■ 
and my «rpinion was and is, that if these facts could be fairly j 
hrtiught forvvard, they would enable the public to see in what 
maiiiier some of the monies apprupriated for the War Depart- * 
ment, and which are under the ir!*medjatecontroul of the Seere- i 
tary o5 AVar, has been applied. 

The day after 1 was diamissed from cffif^e, the President au- I 
thorised one of my clerks to act as aceonuant until an accouut- ! 
ant was regularly appointed, and all the settlements which had : 
heen made umliT my inspfclion, and had been suspended on ae- ' 
count of the Secretary of War's pretended opinion that it was 
illegal to pay balances on the aeci>untant's reports, were taken ' 
up by hhn and reported on to the Secretary of War, who imme- 
diately issued warrants on the reports in the same manner that j 
it had been the ]»raetice to do from the estaidishment of the • 
office; thereby proving to the worid that a man holding one of \ 
thf highest, and iHost responsililn offices under government, (for 
tlip purpose of injuring and getting out of office an officer of 
thirty years standing, >vho was too inds-pendent for his purposes) i 
so far lost sight of every principle of honor as to declare a prac- ; 
lice on one day illegal, ifyhit h he, the ufxt day, acting under the ; 
solemn oath of his office, makes the rule of his conduct. * 

1 uill only remark further, that 1 shall remain at the seat of ] 
govn-nment tintil the next meeting of congress, and that not- 
withstanding my office has been taken from me, I have hopes > 
that it ^vilibe in my power to give to the members such informa- ; 
tion as will finable them to enter into a free investigation of any 
transactions I have spoken of, and many others that have come .i 
under my notice, which they may thiuk ought to be enquired < 
into. WM. SIMMONS. ] 



Washington^ July 16, 18 1*. 



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